Volunteering at Peer support group
Its been nice to get back into the sway of the new term and lots of residents on Bromley Farm are getting back into the school routine. With this its been nice to talk about stresses and life with others. Our peers support group is a lovely group helping people to share experiences and stresses and provide companionship and support for each other.
Making things Breastfeeding Friendly
I have been looking at the Hub and my nursery and making sure that all groups at the Hub have the provision to support breast feeding and make it a welcoming and pleasant experience. Its been good to review and make sure that we are friendly.
Friendship Garden
I have been working very hard to get some new volunteers and this has been really successful.
We have a lovely group of volunteers and have extended and built a new pathway for the garden. We have been maintaining the garden and we have been giving out the produce to residents to help with the cost of living and providing food for locals. Our homegrown rhubarb has been a hit and one pf our locals has made a lovely crumble with it.
We have won two awards InBloom Level 3 Advancing Garden award and a Growing together award from the RHS and One Show.
Stay and Play
I have been working hard at the Stay and Play on Bromley Farm providing free activities and meals for children aged 0-4 and their families. The children have been working of the Friendship Garden helping to maintain it.
The Wilmslow Electric Bike Shop
I enjoyed meeting up with the shop to trial some e-bikes .
We went out trying some routes around Congleton and talked about some of the pros and cons with Congleton’s bike routes and discussed the benefits of e-bikes and e-bike schemes for the town.
We talked about how the bikes could help local businesses and what could be done locally to make Congleton greener.
We experienced the main bike route and looked first hand at some of the challenges such as A frame gates blocking access for bikes and compared Congleton to places like Oxford where bikes are widely used.
We talked about the possibility of the Town Hall loaning bikes for people to trial.
The bikes were fabulous, easy to use and a good alternative to cars.
In Bloom and Environment Committee
I have been working with the In Bloom Group to choose the flowers and plants for our town. It was great to see the workings of In Bloom and we have worked hard to make sure we are trying to save money and choose plants that are eco friendly.
Back to Back Garden
It has been such a success looking after and building our back to back garden with the children in Congleton park as part of In Bloom.
But like all good things it has come to an end. We harvested our vegetables and have made chutney with the green tomatoes. The children loved this project and we have had so much fun.
I worked hard to empty the garden and then gifted some of the plants to the Woolston Ave and Hillary Ave projects. This garden has been a hit with the community.
We have won a level 5 for my nursery garden from In Bloom.
Training with Jackie Weaver
I have been on a training course run by the legendary Jackie Weaver and been learning about the structure and protocols for council meetings. It was very interesting and I have been developing my understanding. I also met other councillors from other areas.
Woolston Ave
I have helped to maintain the garden at Woolston Ave. The garden has some lovely sorrel plants which are great for our bees and which had grown well. So I have trimmed it and maintained the planter. I was pleased to find green beans which were given to local residents.
One little boy took them home to his mum and she made a roast dinner out of them. He was really chuffed to see what he had grown with us it was lovely to see how much pleasure our garden can bring to little ones.
Ansa
I have been working with ANSA to promote recyclable nappies. I have been sharing information with parents and residents of Bromley Farm about the nappies and how people can make the switch. Helping ANSA to promote the offer to encourage people to be more eco friendly.
Brown Bins
I have worked with residents from Cloud View to help to get their brown bins emptied before the winter and the new charges come in.
Green Fair
I represented The Town Council at The Green Fair. I was lucky to explore the Makers Market and the Green stalls before my stint on the Councils stall.
I had some really positive conversations with the locals who made some great suggestions and it was lovely to see and talk to the other stall holders learning about what they have been doing. I also signed the Rotary Club’s Pledge to being environmentally friendly.
Round Table Net Zero
It was a real privilege to attend the Round Table Net Zero conference at Congleton town Hall. Local businesses came together to discuss and share strategies they use to make their businesses net zero.
Then all the groups got together to come up with ways to improve Congleton and make our town reach net zero.
There were so many ideas generated and these have been written down and will be considered. This is the first of many meetings and I am looking forward to working collaboratively to make Congleton net zero!
Town Hall Tour
I was invited to attend a tour of the Town Hall which was really useful. It is hard to make decisions on items I have never seen – such as the boilers and to look at the roof to make educated decisions on how to maintain the Town Hall. It was interesting to see the backstage of the Town Hall and discuss some of the problems and decisions made in history. A great learning opportunity!
Parking problems around Buglawton School
I have been working with my fellow WEP Councillor Kay Wesley to help residents around the Buglawton School area with nuisance and dangerous parking around the school grounds.
The local school and police have been fantastic and have arranged this event.
Hoping that this will promote awareness and help the residents.
Changing lives together
I have started a new volunteering venture and this is to help prevent isolation in my local community. I am working with Changing Lives Together and giving people a call who might benefit and this has been a wonderful project.
I have made some fantastic new friends and look forward to learning more about them.
Eye Society talk
I have been to the Town hall to attend an eyesight awareness talk where I got to hear about our town and what might be a potential problem. I discussed all about how eyesight problems can impact people. We talked about local transport issues and guide dogs.
It was a very informative talk and I learnt a great deal about the daily struggles that people with eyesight impairments have. It was interesting to look at some of the aids that people can use and how the Council can be more supportive. We looked at strategies we could use in future communications to make things easier.
In Bloom
On a lovely sunny Saturday in October I volunteered with InBloom and went out picking up litter with Kay’s help in the Boundary Lane area. We spoke to residents about pot holes and hedging.
Harvest Food Bank
I have been on a trip to the Food Bank dropping off the food that has been collected at Rood Lane Methodist Church and Friendly Faces Nursery for the Harvest Festival. There was a lot of food donated.
Congleton Market Quarter
I attended the pre-launch of the new Market Quarter and had a fantastic evening. Thanks to all those who arranged it.
Meetings
I have 93% attendance on all the Council and Committee meetings I am involved in for the council in September and October and 75% (3 of 4) of the mandatory Council Committee meetings.
The Equality Party 